Let's say you are a 19 handicap and you set a goal of becoming a 9 handicap by the end of the season (a very lofty goal, but possible). In my earlier newsletters on Statistical Analysis of an Average Golfer, for all levels of players, the most signficant way to lower scores is by improving the short game. Recall that:

Compared to overall average golfer statistics, you need to improve by:

† increasing GIR from 3 to 8 (267% increase)
† increasing Iron Accuracy from 20 to 53% (265% increase)
† reducing Putts per Round from 35.0 to 31.7 (9.5% decrease)
† reducing Pitch/Chip/Sand from 15.6 to 9.8 (37% decrease)

Your ball striking and thus swing would need to improve immensely to reach your goal. Imagine how much less improvement is necessary with the short game to realize lower scores. I recommend you buying Dave Pelz's book to help out.

As some objectives to achieve this goal, I would highly recommend the 19 handicap putting some things in place to improve the short game such as:

† arranging some lessons from a local professional
† setting aside an hour each second day to work on the short game
† purchasing some books on the short game to help out with practice
† utilizing more of my golf site and tips to improve
† it might be that the short game is the only focus of improvement

For improvement to take place, of course, one needs to set aside ample time to practice and play. The 19 handicap won't improve much if all he/she does is play a round of golf 3 times each week. When top professionals make significant changes to their games, they often play less and practice more. It's difficult to work on improvement of various aspects of the game on the course because the sole goal there is score.

After only a few days of practicing my alignment with the laser device attached, I am now squaring the putter face to my target consistently. I can now practice making a proper stroke confident that I am aimed at my target. I am missing my putts a little right now, but am confident that I will "cure" my cut stroke.

Take a look at the Laser Putting Device that I use and consider getting one for yourself

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This section of the site is about improving your putting, which is as outlined above the most effective way of lowering your score. Even if you're a scratch player shooting par, almost half of your strokes are putts.

To improve your putting, you can improve in one or more of the following areas:

1. Stroke Mechanics: There are some fundamentals essential to good putting.

2. Feel: No matter how flawless your stroke, you must develop good kinesthetic feel to stroke putts the correct distance.

3. Reading Greens: With a sound stroke and great feel, you still need to be able to read how much a putt will break.

Track your real putting statistics with a spreadsheet I've developed. You input not only how many putts you've had, but how long they are, thus giving your a much more realistic, useful statistic. One day you may have 26 putts, the next day you may have 32 putts. You may have actually putted better on the 32 putt day (the 26 putt days may have been the result of many short putts; you chipped really well that day).

The first two areas require athletic moves that can be improved upon through practice (some tips on those later). But, the third area, reading greens, can be improved upon by anyone. That's what I'll focus on teaching you now.

Please complete this Golf Handicap Improvement Survey

By analyzing how a ball is affected by the slope of the green and by the frictional resistance of the grass, I have determined how the plumb bob distance (between shaft and hole) is related to the amount of break. Most of the breaking occurs in the last few feet of roll. A typical 20 foot putt which breaks slightly because of a small slope would look like:

The horizontal line in the picture is the imaginary line connecting you, the ball and the hole. The first point on the left of the picture is the starting position of the ball. The last point on the right of the picture is the ending point of the ball if the there were no hole. Where the path of the ball intersects the imaginary line is the location of the hole. To maximize the number of putts holed, one wants the speed of the ball to be enough so that ball would move about 18 inches past the hole if the hole were not there (as per Dave Pelz's famous research).

     Most putts are under-read by golfers, even the professionals. I have developed a method to read putts using a plumb bob. Many would argue that plumb bobbing can only tell you which way a putt breaks, but not the amount. I was one of those people. But after analyzing the physics and mathematics of a breaking putt, I have determined a fairly simple procedure of taking what is learned from plumb-bobbing, and calculating the amount of break, which depends on the speed of the green and the length of the putt.

See and order all or my products at my golf product order page.

 

as an example, let's say that the upper shaft is aligned 2 inches left of the left edge of the hole. Since the hole is about 4 inches in diameter (thus the edge of the hole is 2 inches from the hole's center) the shaft is about 2 + 2 = 4 inches from the middle of the hole. When plumb bobbing, this does not mean that the putt breaks 4 inches. It actually breaks more.

The slope of the green is the single biggest factor in how much your putt will break on the way to the hole, but the fact is:   most golfers have a hard time reading break. The number one tool chosen by more and more Tour Pros and Caddies to measure greens is the BreakMaster Digital Green Reader. Learn More -- Click Here Shipping: International 15.95 US/Canada 11.95 Price Includes Shipping Canada/US $97.90 International $101.90 ONLY $85.95